Up Next: Reruns From HSN

By BRIAN STELTER

Published: June 14, 2010

Not content with selling handbags and home d?r on television 24 hours a day, HSN now wants to sell for 48 hours a day.

The company, formerly called the Home Shopping Network, will announce on Monday that it is starting a second full-time network in August, essentially expanding its retail space through a deal with the Dish Network. Called HSN2, the second network will run repeats of the first network's shows, giving pitchmen like Wolfgang Puck and Todd English a second chance to persuade viewers to pick up the phone (or reach for the mouse). It will initially reach 14 million subscribers.

''The days of trying to get a consumer to come to you are over. You really have to be in the consumer's world, wherever, whenever and however,'' Mindy Grossman, the chief executive of HSN Inc., said in a telephone interview last week.

Thus the second helping of HSN. Cable and satellite distributors have to pay to carry most channels, but with home shopping channels that is reversed: HSN and its bigger rival, QVC, pay commissions to the distributors. The commissions gave the Dish Network sufficient reason to make room for a second HSN on the ever-more-crowded channel lineup.

''Ultimately, we'd love to be able to double that current shelf space that we have,'' Ms. Grossman said, indicating that HSN2 would seek wider distribution.

The original HSN is available in 95 million homes. HSN Inc. is now a publicly traded company, having been spun off from IAC two years ago.

The current HSN is live 24 hours a day, every day except Christmas. HSN2 will not be live at all. Instead, it will show repeats that are complementary to the flagship channel, so when HSN is selling jewelry, HSN2 could be selling kitchen appliances.

Ms. Grossman said that the company would also create some taped programming exclusive to HSN2. ''We'll also be able to use HSN2 to test new concepts,'' she said. BRIAN STELTER